Thursday, October 17, 2013

As a small business that is continually growing, it’s
important to focus on the core services and products that make your business a
success as well as the functions that best serve your employees. When new
challenges arise and increased business comes into play, it may be best to
consider outsourcing some of your tasks. If you’re a fairly new business owner,
or you’ve never outsourced before, you may be wondering: What services should I outsource? Here are a few
suggestions.

You can try subcontracting some of your marketing efforts.
Marketing fuels small businesses because they tie in directly to sales results.
But if you already have an extensive client base, focusing on current business
may be more than enough to keep you very busy. This is where a public relations
specialist or consultant can step in. You can find individuals who can focus on
developing PDFs and flyers which customers can download from your website,
conducting email campaigns, or social media networking. As you gain more
employees, it can grow tougher to manage your own payroll. Unless you have an
extensive accounting department, you don’t have to do your own payroll.
Outsourcing this service will ensure you properly pay taxes and you can stop
worrying about uncertain situations such as workmen’s compensation. Finally, you may want to outsource your
administrative support. Virtual assistants are a cost effective way to handle
routine tasks in a business. Utilize this position for email and voicemail
management, blog maintenance, invoicing, and other such tasks.

All of these are great ideas for reducing your internal
workload while increasing company productivity. Surely you can think of other
tasks that could be outsourced, but hopefully, this short list will get you
thinking about it. No small business should have to do every job it takes to
run a company without help, so take advantage of these types of resources. Make
it happen!

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Pinterest—is it really so unique it coined its own word?
Maybe. What’s certain is there are some valuable uses small businesses can get
out of Pinterest. While it’s not a necessity, it can serve as an effective
marketing tool when used correctly. If
you aren’t familiar with this social media site, a user creates boards that
they pin to. Pins are images associated with how-to’s and popular trends from
another website or something you created yourself. You can have an unlimited
number of boards for multiple subjects and you can re-pin items from anyone
else’s board. It’s a method of organizing your interests, kind of like an inspiration/projects
bulletin board. Now that you know what it is, try implementing these uses for a
company Pinterest page.

Employee boards are great for companies that have visual
representations of their work such as a salon, restaurant, or one with popular
products. Each employee can have one board that they post to that will showcase
their work. This not only organizes and displays some of your business’ best
work but is also fun for each employee and a means of encouraging excellent
performance. Consider, on the flipside, customer boards. They could post how
they are using your products to inspire other customers. Similar to a blog but
more visually dynamic, you could have a Pinterest board for ideas and
tutorials, using your products. You can even hold contests that require the use
of your products and services to create something new. (For example, an art
project contest that uses a specific shade of the paint you sell).

Sharing a wide variety of content is effective here and you
can link to your own work or blog as well as others in the industry. Finally,
contests are a great method of interaction for customers and it also promotes
your products while offering incentives for loyal customers.

Can you think of other uses for Pinterest? Try those out as
well! In today’s social media connected culture, it can only help you. Make it
happen.